Today a friend of mine came through and talked it up on my porch. He spoke of how poor he is and how he worked and worked while the bills kept piling up. Instead of throwing him a pity party I had to scold him.
"How about you stop spending money on weed. And how about you stop buying your girlfriend so much lingerie, its just gonna end up on the floor anyway. And stop buying those bloody ringtones." I would have continued but he seemed receptive to it. We started talking about the things he could cut back on until he wanted to stop paying child support, "Wow there champ. Don't stop paying your prior responsibilities. They'll throw you in jail for that when they find you!"
Now I admit that I live a spartan existence (not the stabbing, shouting "This is Sparta!!" existence.) I use my library card constantly rather than my blockbuster card and dress modestly outside of work. I have no prior responsibilities (what we call children or child support) and don't have any addictions. I can understand that my way of life is not necessarily transferable to others and people might say I don't know why they buy what they buy or do what they do.
By his own admission:
- He smokes weed to alleviate the stress of his life.
- He buys the lingerie so that his girlfriend knows he cares. She wouldn't be receptive to poetry and that shit.
- He buys the ringtones true, but they are only $1.99 each.
And on and on and on.
With a recession going on I see some people making difficult decisions. But I also see people complaining while at the same time refusing to cut back their spending habits. The price of things go up but they refuse to scale back their premium cable to the basic cable. They save their money to buy the new iPhone when they already have a phone and then spend money on apps. People who would rather drive the five blocks to buy something than walk.
Do you know any people like this? Do you feel like strangling them when they open their mouths to whine?
Comments (14)
lol, interesting. If he were responsible, he definitely would cut the lingerie, weed, and ringtones. You really don't need those. His girlfriend sounds really shallow too, so if she's going to dump him because he won't buy her lingerie, then good for him. Life will not get kicked down a notch with a standard ringtone either.
YES! I have a cousin who's been unemployed for almost a year and whines that she's broke and therefore can't afford to do things with the rest of us. She conveniently forgets that I too am unemployed and broke and have been since I got laid off early this year. But the difference between us is that I rarely go out or buy things, and when I do, I've budgeted a certain amount for that event. When I invited her out for my brother's surprise birthday party at a restaurant a few weeks after my layoff, she said she couldn't afford dinner out but that we should have it at my house instead. I agreed because I didn't want her to feel left out even though the whole point of having it at a restaurant was so I wouldn't have to play hostess. My brother is very low-key, so I suggested that we just order in pizza and split the cost, which would have come out to no more than $6-10 a person. She complained that she couldn't afford $10 and wanted it to be a potluck. So every concession I made for her benefit, she kept pushing and pushing for the kind of party SHE wanted and would only benefit her.
The night of the party, she bragged to one of the guests that she'd just gotten a great deal on a tanning salon package that week for $30, and a Prada wallet for "only" $100.
Now, I am a huge HUGE supporter of people having the right to spend their own money any way they like, but I was furious that she said she couldn't afford $10 for pizza and made me change all my plans (this party cost me three times what I would have spent at the restaurant, and don't forget, I'd just lost my job), but she somehow had $130 for other things AND had the nerve to brag about it in front of me.
After that, I vowed never to change plans for her again. If she's going to prioritize skin cancer and an overpriced wallet over her own cousin, that's up to her and it's her right to do whatever she wants with her money. But then I don't have to prioritize her economic status over what's comfortable for me.
He buys the lingerie so that his girlfriend knows he cares. She wouldn't be receptive to poetry and that shit.
priceless! ladyfriend needs to start buying her own lingerie.
Haha I'm that friend. But I have buddies who say "you shouldn't be paying to do your nails or buying makeup when you have a car payment" and I listen. You're good for them. :(
www.fairtax.org
I have a friend who constantly whines that she can't pay her rent, car payment ect. The other day she left her cell phone case (new) in my car and when I picked it up some reciepts fell out. $75 at a movie store and $95 at walmart, all stuff they didn't need. no wonder they were $200 short on their rent!!
Also. Tell ur friend to go to freaking myxer.com for Free ringtones.
Your friend is a pothead. Potheads will forever be in debt. It's the sad truth of that shitty life.
a good friend is someone who is willing to rebuke their friend for the things they are doing wrong so that they can come to their senses...as unpleasant as it might be, so I think you did the right thing.
I have a friend like this except that he is substance free, gf free, and unemployed. he hasn't worked for a year now and is living with his brother who is paying all the rent and utilities. he spends money he doesnt has on things he doesnt need like new furniture for the apt, new phone, etc. one time when we were hanging out, he bought a sandwich from wholefoods for like $9 because he feels it's healtier while there's a $5 foot-long around the corner. I told him he has to be more conscious of his spending habit but he doesnt heed my advice...
Oh how true. I too live a spartan existance because a) I don't 'need' a lot of stuff and b) Id rather save my money for more useful investments. That being said, I have a close friend who constantly complains about being broke - she carries a large sum of credit card debt and despite living on her own and making more money than I do, she never has any of it. Listening to her complain its clear to see where she does spend all her money - on premium cable channels, new outfits and shoes to impress her boyfriend (and we are talking about designer outfits too), games, dvd's...anything and everything. When I mention to her that she can downgrade a few things, I get the 'but I cant live without it' speach. Its not my place to say what she finds important or not but I cenrtainly don't want to hear anymore about it!
My father is horrid with money. He's always had plenty of it, until he got divorced. Now he can't figure out up from down.
I make 11,000 a year, and get by damn fine. However, he always insist what I have isnt good enough for me. "Get a two bedroom apartment" "get a new steering wheel cover" "get new jeans" "get better food" "get your car washed" "get the more expensive brand".@Aranya668@xanga - I hate adults that complain about being broke when they have all this junk even more. Ok, yeah, you're broke.. so why'd you buy those patio lights?lol..
I think we all have people like that in our lives... they only bother me when they start wanting to spend my money....
Yeah!
My brother!
He goes out and buys new phones,gps, iPod's,Computers, etc..
Every week! It's so annoying. After every new thing he gets, he comes and complains to me!
Blah,blah,blah i'm so poor! That's what he says EVERY time!
No offense to anyone but I don't like when people complain they can't find a job when they are spending the majority of their time at home on the couch playing video games... I mean... How can you possibly get hired if you're not out there applying for positions or giving out resumes?